


Lost and Found

by kakifuarika



Series: 30 days of OTP challenge [14]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: 30 days of OTP challenge, Carnival AU, Destiel - Freeform, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-30
Updated: 2014-06-30
Packaged: 2018-02-06 19:39:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1869909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakifuarika/pseuds/kakifuarika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten-year-old Dean Winchester was having a regular day working in The Singer Brothers Carnival, taking shifts, sleeping in cramped bunk beds, and taking care of his younger brother Sam. What he didn't expect was a lost and crying nine year old with extremely blue eyes. </p>
<p>"I'll do whatever I can to get this thing fixed but in the mean time, your friend's stayin' lost."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost and Found

**Author's Note:**

> 30 days of OTP challenge. Day 14: Carnival AU
> 
> Kid!Destiel has a special place in my heart okay?

Dean Winchester loved observing people. Not in the creepy stalker kind of way but he loved watching a crowd of people and wondering what kind of lives they had. He was always a curious child, even before they stowed away on some truck and ended up in the carnival business. 

It was two years ago when Dean and his brother Sam were on the run for stealing a couple of fruits from the famer’s market. They hid in a truck filled with costumes, stage props, and whatnot and before they knew it, the truck started to drive away. They were found two stops after. Bobby Singer, who was the owner of that carnival decided to give them a job rather than have them on the streets. That’s how they ended up in this kind of life.

Now he’s a ten year old managing a ticket booth to some arcade game. He actually likes his job because he gets to meet people and people are curious on why a ten year old is in a circus rather than in school. In times where only a few people come to the arcade, he gets to observe them and wonder what it was like to have a normal life behind a white picket fence and a neatly kept garden.

He assumed it would be boring. 

“Hey Dean! Break time, it’s my shift now.” A skinny kid who was a year younger than Dean shouted from behind.

“Not much going on around here Garth, the crowd usually thickens as night falls so have fun doing nothing in the mean time.” Dean muttered as he left the booth.

The Singer Brothers carnival was one of the biggest around and they have all kinds of stuff from the gut-wrenching rides to those typical road shows like sword swallowing, body contortionists, magic shows that kind of stuff. It belonged to Bobby who was an only child but decided that the name would make it sound old and authentic. Imagine the faces of the people who always go there when they find out the truth.

Dean was on his way to see Sam who worked as an assistant for the maintenance guy called Ash when he heard a quite sobbing down a small path between the storage room and the back portion of the arcade. Being the curious kid that he was, he decided to take a peak and saw another kid who was sitting on the dirt, curled up against the wooden wall of the arcade, and was quietly crying.

“Hey.” Dean said gently. The kid looked up at him with his watery blue eyes.

“What’s wrong? Are you lost?” Dean asked crouching down so he could be in the same level as the kid.

 The first thing he noticed was the kid’s eyes was incredibly blue and second, he didn’t look very small from this point of view. He nodded at Dean and wiped his tears away.

“I’m with my brothers and I got separated. I didn’t know what to do.” He mumbled.

“Hey no it’s okay. Come on. I know someone who can help you out.” Dean said as he stood up and offered his hand. The kid took it and Dean pulled him up on his feet.

“I’m Dean, by the way.”

“I’m Castiel but you can call me Cas.” 

“Alright Cas, let’s get you to your brothers.”

Castiel grabbed on the sleeve of Dean’s shirt as he maneuvered through the crowd of Carnival goers. The kid was gripping too tight in fear of getting lost again. It was three hours past noon and the blistering heat from the sun affected everyone. It took them a good 5 minutes to reach a shack at the middle of the carnival. Dean knocked on the wooden door that looked like it was going to crumble at anytime and a man, probably in his late 20s, opened the door.

“Hey kiddo, you missed your brother. He was just here a few seconds ago before I sent him out to take a quick break.” He said.

 “I wasn’t here to see Sam, Ash. I was hoping you could help us.” Dean said looking at Castiel who was hiding behind him.

“And what can I help you with?” Ash asked.

“Is the P.A system on? This kid got separated from his brothers and this Carnival’s too damn big to do a one on one search.” Dean explained.

Ash sighed and ran a hand through his sweaty mullet styled hair. “No can do kiddo, P.A system is a bust. I’ve been tryna fix it all week but damn Bobby won’t give me money to get the parts I need.” He explained.

There was a rattling sound that was followed by a small explosion. “And that will be our P.A system. I’ll do whatever I can to get this thing fixed but in the mean time, your friend’s stayin’ lost.” 

Ash hurried in the shack and slammed the door behind him. The two kids heard him swear then there was a splash of water followed by more swears. Dean shrugged and pulled Castiel towards the crowd again. His face was blank as he waded through the crowd once again.

“Dean.” Cas stated but Dean was deep in thought to hear him.

“Dean!” Cas shouted and this time the ten-year-old boy pulling him heard it.

“I-I’m sorry… I was lost in thought.” Dean stuttered.

“I’ll be fine… I guess. I mean they’re bound to find me at some point right?” Castiel said, stopping in the middle of the crowd. “I’ll just go the main entrance or something.”

Dean smiled at him apologetically. The kid was having a bad day and Dean would feel guilty for ruining it even more so he does what any kid in his situation would do. He would at least try to cheer Castiel up.

“It’s okay. I’ve got the rest of the day off. I can hang out with you.” Dean said.  

Castiel’s face immediately lit up in disbelief.

“Really?” He asked. “Thank you Dean.”

“Cas?”

“Hm?”

“How old are you?”

“9 years old. Why?”

“You’re old enough to ride almost every single ride here.” Dean explained. “Come on!”

Dean took Cas by the arm and pulled him to the nearest one, which was some sort of mini-roller coaster. That’s what they did the rest of the day. Dean took him to the rides they can both go on and in exchange Cas told him snippets about his life in Pontiac, Illinois. 

From what Dean learned, Castiel was the youngest among 5 siblings. He had three older brothers named Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel and a sister who was 2 years older than him. It took them whole week to convince their dad so they could go to the carnival.

“Dad didn’t come with us though. He’s busy with his work and stuff.” Castiel explained as they waited in line for the bumper cars.

Cas told funny little stories about his family. How Castiel and Gabriel would device a prank against their two older brothers and they would laugh at their faces. Gabriel sounded like your average thirteen-year-old brother who loved doing tricks on people. Anna, on the other hand, loved art and she would usually sketch while Cas observed the bees in their back yard garden. Castiel isn’t really close to his two older brothers, Michael and Raphael, and from what he told Dean the older two were quite serious and scary.

The whole time with Cas, Dean’s curiosity about the simple life got a little bit satisfied. Cas lived quite a normal life with people you call your family. He went to school though; Something Dean hasn’t experience in a long time. Castiel liked the same things kids his age likes although he has a strange fascination for bees. Everything about Cas was normal and sometimes Dean yearn that kind of normality.

Don’t get him wrong; life on the road was a hell lot of fun especially with a weird bunch of misfits you call as family. He shared a bunk bed with Sam in a crowded trailer and he only gets to sleep in when they’re on the road. Dean has been working since he was eight years old but it sure beats staying with a crappy ass father who didn’t give a damn about their welfare. That was the main reason why they were on the road in the first place. Their drunkard of a father was arrested and they were going to be put in an orphanage but they escaped in the last minute. It wasn’t really a genius move but they had to keep going and when he realized that the orphanage wasn’t really a bad idea, they were too far away from Lawrence, Kansas. Then came the fruit stealing fiasco followed by hiding in a truck and being stowaways. 

But if all that didn’t happen then he wouldn’t be riding a Ferris wheel with one of the few people outside the carnival family he knows.

“It’s almost night time Dean and I haven’t found my brothers yet.” Castiel said worriedly as he gripped on the handle bar in front of him. 

“We’ll go back to Ash after we get off this ride but you have to trust me when I say this is the best ride there is.” Dean said grinning like the excited idiot that he is.

They waited until they reached the very top and Castiel sat there in awe. He had the whole view of the Carnival, with the bright lights bouncing of the luminous paint of the structures. The placed looked hectic in the midday sun but when evening came and the lights flickered on one by one, the Singer Brothers Carnival looked magical. Castiel looked like he had been to Disney World, he was smiling all over. And Dean was happy to make this crying, lost kid cheer up. He didn’t even feel like a stranger to Cas, which was quite comforting considering they only met today.

By the time they got down from the Ferris wheel, Cas’ siblings were worried sick about him and luckily they were in the area.

“Cassie!” Gabriel shouted from across. 

“Gabe!” Cas shouted as he instinctively ran towards his older brother.

Castiel clung to him tight as his brother hugged him tight. It was very endearing to watch and Dean wondered if he looked like that when Sam hugged him.

“I was worried to death! Where the hell did you run off to?” Gabe asked him.

“I got separated from you guys after you decided to split up and I was with Dean the whole day. We were gonna page you but the P.A system was broken.” Castiel explained.

Gabriel looked up and saw Dean standing a few meters away. He took his little brother by the hand and approached Dean.

“Well, Dean. Thanks for taking care of my lil’ bro. He has a knack for getting lost you know.” 

“You’re welcome.”

Gabriel smiled at Dean then looked at Castiel. “Well Cassie, time to go. Michael is waiting for us in the parking lot.”

Castiel nodded but before he left with Gabriel, he went up to Dean and thanked him by giving something like a necklace with a weird looking pendant. The pendant was made out of bronze and it looked old. It looked like an old relic from some ruined temple. It was probably a god in some ancient civilization.

“It’s always been my lucky charm but I think you need it more than I do.” Castiel explained. “Thank you for today, Dean. See you next time.”

Castiel gave Dean a quick hug before disappearing into the crowd with his brother.

At least there was something worth going back for.


End file.
